Last Ship Through Soo Locks Before They Close

A couple of years ago I took my family up to Michigan’s Soo Locks. It was an informative and great time. When you see those Locks you come away thinking our ingenious we humans can be.

Did you know that the Soo Locks closes every winter for their annual scheduled maintenance?

Well last night the last ship went through the Locks before they closed down for the winter.

Mlive has some great pictures and video of this ship passing through the Locks. The honor of the last ship passing through the Locks this season went to a Canadian flagged 664-foot freighter named The Manitoulin.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on its Facebook page to mark the event:

This evening at 9:30 p.m. we locked through the Manitoulin, finishing up another successful navigation season at the Soo Locks…We have a busy season of winter work ahead of us as we complete scheduled maintenance projects. The Soo Locks will reopen for the new navigation season March 25, 2019.

Also some fun facts to know, each year there are in excess of 4,500 ships that move 80 million tons of cargo that pass through the locks in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The locks close every year on January 15th and then re-open on March 25th. The Army Corps of Engineers use this time to replace any worn pieces as well as give the locks a thorough inspection.

I would recommend to all of you to take a trip up there to see the Locks in action if possible. It is in a great Michigan city and really interesting to see the ships pass through.